日本地球惑星科学連合2025年大会

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セッション記号 P (宇宙惑星科学) » P-PS 惑星科学

[P-PS04] Mercury Science and Exploration

2025年5月25日(日) 10:45 〜 12:15 304 (幕張メッセ国際会議場)

コンビーナ:村上 豪(宇宙航空研究開発機構宇宙科学研究所)、相澤 紗絵(Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, CNRS)、原田 裕己(京都大学理学研究科)、鎌田 俊一(北海道大学 理学研究院)、座長:村上 豪(宇宙航空研究開発機構宇宙科学研究所)、原田 裕己(京都大学理学研究科)、鎌田 俊一(北海道大学 理学研究院)

11:45 〜 12:00

[PPS04-11] BepiColomboとMESSENGERによる観測から明らかになった水星のMg大気と表面存在量の繋がり

*鈴木 雄大1、Quémerais Eric2Chaufray Jean-Yves2、Robidel Rozenn3村上 豪1、Leblanc François2吉岡 和夫4吉川 一朗4、Korablev Oleg5 (1.宇宙航空研究開発機構 (JAXA)、2.The Laboratory for Atmospheres, Observations, and Space (LATMOS)、3.Eeropean Space Agency、4.東京大学、5.Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS))

キーワード:水星、外気圏、BepiColombo、MESSENGER、表面組成

Mercury’s exosphere is an important target for understanding the dynamics of coupled systems in space environments, tenuous planetary atmospheres, and planetary surfaces. Magnesium (Mg) is especially crucial for establishing methods for estimating the surface chemical composition distribution through observations of the exosphere because its distribution in the exosphere and on the surface are strongly correlated. However, owing to its low radiance, the Hermean Mg exosphere has only been detected by the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) onboard the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. Thus, we have few observation data for areas other than low latitude regions in addition to few detection cases of short-term or sporadic fluctuations, resulting in a poor understanding of ejection and transportation mechanisms of the Mg exosphere.
In this study, we analyzed the distribution of the Hermean Mg exosphere by the Probing of Hermean Exosphere by Ultraviolet Spectroscopy (PHEBUS) onboard the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) of the BepiColombo mission during its second to fourth Mercury swing-bys (MSBs).
First, we constructed a calibration method including background subtraction and calibration using stellar observations. Mg light curves at three true anomaly angles were obtained, which were in agreement with Chamberlain model and a three-dimensional numerical calculation for MSBs 2 and 3 cases. Comparing the Mg and calcium (Ca) radiances obtained by PHEBUS during MSBs, the exospheric Mg atoms have a lower energy than the exospheric Ca atoms. This is consistent with the lower energy necessary for producing the Mg atoms produced by molecular photodissociation than for Ca atoms. For MSB4 cases, Mg radiance much lower than model calculation was obtained, the cause of which is under discussion.
In this presentation, we summarize the latest results related to Mercury’s Mg exosphere obtained by BepiColombo MPO/PHEBUS during its MSBs and by MESSENGER/MASCS.